POTTSVILLE - Although he's only been teaching for 12 years, Ed Roberts has devoted his life to science.

The 2000 Arkansas High School Science Teacher of the Year, Pottsville's Roberts didn't begin teaching until he retired from the United States Air Force in 1992. But he has been involved with scientific projects his entire career.

"I've always been interested in science," Roberts said. "It was my strong subject in high school, and even when I went into the military, I got to work with science."

Roberts served in various capacities while in the Air Force, including serving as Commander for the Missile Combat Crew of the 91st Strategic Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota. He also served as range operations supervisor for the Western Test Range at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and chief of the current launch operation, United States Space Command at Petterson Air Force Base in Colorado.

But many of his early years were spent in rural Arkansas.

"I went to Greenway High School in northeast Arkansas, which doesn't even exist anymore," Roberts said. "I moved there from Sam Houston High School in Houston, Texas, so I went from a big school to one that had 150 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

"While I was at Greenway, I wanted to take physics and chemistry and other science classes, so they had to provide that. Our principal was the science teacher, and one day, he walked with me into the science room and said, 'I think you should stay in here until lunch.' So I would work in the science room, and he would come and go."

Roberts said he would work by himself, learning about science.

"I created my own learning," Roberts said. "There was a microscope set up in the room, and I would go outside and find things to put under the microscope and look at. All year long, I looked through that microscope, played with it. When I graduated, Mr. Busby gave it to me, and I still have that microscope."

Roberts said after he graduated high school, he attended college hoping to study to become a veterinarian. But when he got married and began a family, he needed someone to help pay for his schooling, and the military seemed like the answer.

"I scored well on the ASVAB, and I was commissioned as a second lieutenant," Roberts said. "I earned a scholarship, so instead of going directly into the military, I finished college. I was majoring in biology, but the Air Force said it would pay me if I switched to chemistry, so I switched."

When he finished his schooling, he went to North Dakota to begin his military work as a crew commander at Minot Air Force Base. He served five years in North Dakota, and he said he enjoyed his time there.

"I left North Dakota having been a crew commander and chief of training, so I had some valuable experience," Roberts said.

He still holds the record there for the most number of alerts, 345.

He went from North Dakota to California, where he was stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

"That was around the time of the Challenger explosion, and after Challenger, NASA was trying to figure out how to put satellites into orbit without risking someone's safety," Roberts said. "My job was to blow up rockets if they got off course."

Roberts said the U.S. Space Command oversaw the launch operations for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as well as the operation in California. His work at the U.S. Space Command put him in contact with some astronauts, who he said he got to know well.

"All of that science, I used it the whole time I was in the military," Roberts said. "I felt like the military really prepared me for public schools. I taught classes and was in charge of training younger people. All of that was good experience for my job as a teacher."

When he began thinking about retiring from the military, Roberts said he became involved with the Air Force's Troops to Teachers program. Through that, the Air Force helped him achieve his teaching certification and find a job.

Because he had lived in Arkansas and still had children here, Roberts said he began applying for jobs in the area.

"I started applying for jobs up and down Interstate 40," he said. "I got three job offers, one of which was from Pottsville. I liked the size of the school district and the people here, so I accepted this job."

Roberts said he left Petterson Air Force Base in Colorado in May and worked on his certification that summer. He was certified by the time school began in August.

"I still remember my very first class," he said. "My first class of the day was a seventh- grade life science class. The only experience I had was from my own school days. I hadn't even done any student-teaching.

"I remember saying to them, 'Guys, I wonder what we should do first.' One boy raised his hand and said, 'How about passing out some books?' So I did that, and that was the first day. That boy was Jerry Potts, and I'm still grateful to him for helping me out. The first day was kind of scary."

Roberts taught at the middle school for five years before moving to the high school as its second science teacher. He currently teaches ninth-grade AP physical science, physical science, principles of technology and earth science. He has also taught an astronomy course in the past.

He said his approach to teaching is to allow students to learn by conducting research.

"I'm into research-based science where students do research themselves and try to get something published," he said.

He provides many activities for his students to participate in as well.

Students can track earthquakes around the world through a seismometer set up in Roberts' classroom that maps out the quakes on a computer.

One class is building a robot that meets certain specifications to compete in a statewide contest this fall.

Another class participates in a trout-raising and tracking experiment. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission brings trout eggs to an aquarium in Roberts' classroom. The fish grow to a certain size, and AGFC workers return and tag the fish and release them into the rivers. When a fisherman catches one of the tagged fish, he is paid and the information is reported back to Roberts' students.

Roberts is also involved with a project through the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to put an object in space.

This summer, Roberts put a 35-millimeter camera into space that took pictures of the earth. He put the camera into a styrofoam box and attached it to a weather balloon. A global positioning system device allowed Roberts to find the camera when the balloon burst and it returned to earth. He said he found it about 100 miles away.

"I want to do that same project with students," Roberts said.

Roberts said he is extremely thankful for his fellow teachers at Pottsville.

"I couldn't do any of this without all of them," he said. "They are very supportive and helpful. We're all a team here."

He is involved with many organizations, including the Arkansas Science Teachers Association and the Math and Science Alliance at Arkansas Tech University. He also serves as co-director for the River Valley Middle Level Science Fair, which is held each year in Russellville.

But all of his work is just a product of doing what he loves, Roberts said.

"I try to take the hobbies in my life and turn them into what I teach in class," Roberts said. "If I didn't do that, I wouldn't want to teach."